Vote ‘NO’ on Issue 1

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As the upcoming election draws near I would strongly encourage everyone — Democrat — Republican — Independents — Green Party — truly every eligible voter, to get to the polls and vote! The one true way to show you care about our villages, townships, cities, counties, state and nation is to get informed on the issues and the candidates and vote for how you feel towards these issues and the candidates.

One issue that truly deserves your study and consideration is Issue No. 1. This issue would be a constitutional amendment to our state constitution that would weaken our drug possession and illegal sale of drugs in Ohio. This issue is bad for Ohio in many ways and here are just a few of them:

1. Make possession of any amount of deadly drug (including fentanyl) nothing more than a minor misdemeanor, and forbids jail sentencing for the first two offenses no matter what quantities are involved. You could possess enough fentanyl to kill 10,000 people and not be eligible to be charged or receive any punishment.

2. This bill if passed would significantly damage Ohio’s economy and job development efforts. At a time when Ohio employers already are having a tough time finding employee’s that can pass a drug test, this would only drive more jobs away from Ohio.

3. Issue No. 1 would put Ohio drug laws in our Constitution where it can only be changed by another constitutional amendment that would need voted on by the people, Our lawmakers would not be able to respond to any new drug threat that could come along.

4. Issue No. 1 will flood Ohio’s streets with drugs. With all deterrents gone, except for a minor traffic violation fine, (No jail Time) what is to stop the drug dealers from moving in and taking over?

5. Issue No. 1 would also enable the immediate release of as many as 10,000 felony offenders from Ohio Prisons. These would include, drug offenders, robbers, burglars, and more, turned loose back onto our streets and neighborhoods.

So who is behind Issue No. 1? There are 5 major contributors to the Issue No. 1 campaign according to Ballotopedia, cash support from: George Soros $1,000.000.00, Mark Zuckerberg $1,000.000.00, Open Philanthropy Project $1,000.000.00, Tides Advocacy $500,000.00 and Black Fork Strategies $300,000.00 These are all liberal advocacy groups. The lead organization behind issue 1 in-state is the Ohio Justice and Policy Center of Cincinnati. Records show that OJPC in 2016 received $50,000.00 in funding from George Soros. The question to ask yourself is, “Why would these out of state companies invest this type of money for a constitutional amendment for illegal drug abusers in Ohio???”

Ohio Governor John Kasich’s Office of Budget Management concludes that the proposed amendment would not produce significant savings to the state and could (depending on interpretation) actually increase costs to the state by tens of millions of dollars. For local governments, the proposed amendment would add costs that likely would not be covered by potentially available appropriations under this amendment.”

Despite claims from supporters of Issue No. 1, the experts including judges, prosecutors, treatment professionals, Buckeye State Sheriff’s and many more of our local and state experts are agreeing that Issue No. 1 is bad for Ohio. Please vote “NO” on Issue # 1.

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By Robert Guillozet

Guest columnist

The writer is a Shelby County Commissioner.

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